The WMATA is an essential part of public transit in the D.C. area, making it a connector of residents and visitors in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. In a design course, I created an interface to unify the fare transaction experience by improving the in-station fare devices that dispense SmartTrip cards. Using the best practices of voice interfaces (Siri, Amazon Echo), I designed a kiosk to complete any fare transaction and integrate trip planning, fare buying, and time estimates into a dialogue-based interface.

My approach to designing software begins with identifying the core human needs I seek to address (called the Jobs to Be Done framework). By observing real people using the current WAMTA transit fare systems, identifying their objectives, and understanding their obstacles, this research becomes foundational to the rest of the design.

The design development moved from rough sketches, called paper prototypes, which helped me decide that a voice-enabled touchscreen would be best for this interface. After paper prototyping, I created a flow map and digital wireframes. Once those elements had been refined, the interface was ready to be designed.